The surgeon who was at Pope Francis’ bedside when he died spoke about how the late pope dealt with his premature death and how medical experts fulfilled one of his final wishes. Sergio Alfieri, who performed two critical procedures on the Pope in 2021 and 2023, stated Francis did not respond to any stimulation from medical workers while he lay open-eyed in a coma shortly before his death.

After visiting his Santa Marta house, Alfieri, the Pope’s principal surgeon who oversaw the Holy Father’s medical team at the Gemelli hospital, said that the late pope did not appear to have any respiratory problems. However, the 88-year-old did not react to painful stimuli and did not respond when Alfieri called for him. The surgeon stated that there was ‘nothing more to be done’ at this time, satisfying one of Pope’s final wishes by allowing him to die at home rather than in the hospital. Tens of thousands of Catholics gathered to St. Peter’s Basilica in preparation for the late pope’s burial this weekend.

Police anticipate large people for the event, therefore security surrounding the Vatican has been strengthened. Looking back on the Pope’s final days, Alfieri stated that he saw the late Pope on Saturday afternoon in a happy attitude. According to the surgeon, less than 48 hours before his death, Francis appeared “very well” and determined to fulfill his papal tasks. He even asked the surgeon to schedule a Wednesday meeting with the seventy personnel who had cared for him while he was in the hospital in Rome.

However, the Pope’s personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, called the surgeon early on Monday to inform him that the pontiff’s condition was deteriorating and that he might need to return to Gemelli Hospital. Twenty minutes later, Alfieri arrived at Casa Santa Marta, the modest Vatican guesthouse where Francis had opted to spend twelve years. However, Strappetti was advised by the surgeon, who operated on Francis twice in July 2021 and June 2023 at Gemelli Hospital, that the pontiff’s time was likely coming to an end and that there was no need to transport him.

“We risked letting him die during transport, and I explained that hospitalisation would have been pointless,” he told Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera. “Strappetti knew that the Pope wanted to die at home, when we were at the Gemelli he always said so.” “He passed away shortly after.” “I remained with Massimiliano, Andrea, the other nurses, and the secretaries until they all arrived, when Cardinal Parolin requested us to pray and we prayed the rosary with him. I felt privileged, and now I can confirm that I was.”

“That morning I gave him a caress as a last farewell.” When Alfieri first arrived at the Pope’s Santa Marta house on Monday morning, he said it was difficult to believe that he needed to be hospitalized. The surgeon stated that Francis’ eyes were open and his breathing was normal, but he was unconscious. He went on to explain that Strappetti called me around 5:30 on Monday and said, “The Holy Father is very ill; we must return to Gemelli.” “I pre-alerted everyone and twenty minutes later I was there in Santa Marta.” “When I entered his room, his eyes were open. I observed he had no breathing difficulties, so I called him, but he didn’t answer.

“He did not respond to any stimuli, including painful ones. At that point, I realized there was nothing left to do. He was comatose. Francis claimed that bringing him to Gemelli Hospital would not have improved his chances of survival. “Even doing a CT scan would have given us a more precise diagnosis, but nothing more,” Alfieri told Italian newspaper La Repubblica. “It was one of those strokes that take you away in an hour.” The late Pope was brought to the hospital on February 14 of this year and later diagnosed with double pneumonia.

After being released a little more than a month later, Francis began to appear in public, with his final appearance on Easter Sunday, when he drove his popemobile to St. Peter’s Square to greet millions of people. He told medical doctors in his final weeks of life that he did not want mechanical respiration, which could have extended his life by a few days. When the Pope awoke on the morning of his stroke, the medical workers at his bedside saw something was wrong. “At 5 a.m., the Holy Father got up to drink a glass of water,” Alfieri told La Repubblica.

“He rolled onto his side and the nurse noticed that something was wrong.” “He struggled to respond. The Vatican doctor on call for resuscitation was summoned. They contacted me about 5:30 a.m., and I arrived within 15 minutes. “I discovered him with oxygen and an infusion. “I listened to his lungs, which were clean and rattle-free. His eyes were open, but he didn’t reply to queries or the pinches. “He was already comatose. His pulse was slowing, and his respiration was becoming increasingly shallow. He died on Monday at 7.35 a.m. local time, just over two hours after Alfieri received Strappetti’s distressing phone call.

“He died without suffering and at home,” Alfieri said. At the Gemelli, he did not declare, “I want to return to Santa Marta.” He stated, “I want to go home.” According to the surgeon, Francis had not previously trusted his medical team “much,” but in his final days, he “got closer” to them again. The ailing pope told reporters just days before his death that he was “living it as best I can” after suffering from health issues and diminished mobility caused in part by his aging body and expanding waist.

Until his final weeks, the pope kept a demanding schedule. In September 2024, he visited Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore as part of a 12-day tour to Southeast Asia and Oceania. Despite being told to rest for two months after being released from the hospital, he wanted to thank all 70 personnel who helped him at the institution in person. However, upon his release, his recovery was inconsistent, and medical personnel were concerned that his time was running out. “On one occasion, the pope’surprised everyone’ by surviving a particularly difficult night,” Alfieri went on.

He believed Francis behaved as if he had a specific purpose in mind as he approached death. He elaborated: “Going back to work was part of the therapy and he never exposed himself to danger.” “It’s as if, approaching the end, he decided to do everything he had to.” “I have the clear feeling that he felt he had to do a series of things before dying.” This included one final excursion in the popemobile to welcome Sunday worshippers. “Do you think I can manage it?” he questioned his personal nurse before taking the leap, according to Vatican News, the Holy See’s media outlet.

He was reassured by Strappetti, whom he had previously credited with saving his life. Then, backed by dozens of bodyguards, Francis spent around 15 minutes blessing infants and waving to the crowd from his popemobile. In his final words, he said to his personal nurse, “Thank you for bringing me back to the square.” He handed him his favorite pie, and the Pope appeared “very well” the day before, according to Alfieri. “I am very well; I have resumed working, and I enjoy it,” he recalls the pope saying. Four days before his death, he visited inmates in Rome and wished he could have cleaned their feet.

“This time, I didn’t manage to do it,” the pontiff allegedly stated. According to Alfieri, one of Francis’ final wishes was to care for abandoned embryos. Throughout his pontificate, the late Pope insisted that there was no evidence to warrant the use or destruction of embryos for scientific research. He remarked in 2017: “No ends, even noble in themselves, such as a predicted utility for science, for other human beings or for society, can justify the destruction of human embryos.” Alfieri claimed he mentioned this in January.

He made it clear: “They are life; we cannot allow them to be used for experiments or lost. “It would be murder,” he explained. “We were evaluating, also with the Ministry of Health, among the various options, how to release them for adoption but there was no time for the Pope to make his decision effective.” “My commitment now will be, if the conditions are right, to make this wish come true.” He pledged to raise the issue with Orazio Schillaci, the Italian Health Minister. Following the Vatican’s decision not to close St. Peter’s Basilica overnight, tens of thousands of pilgrims have lined up to pay their respects to Pope Francis.

Large crowds went to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City this weekend ahead of the late pope’s funeral, where they waited for hours to see him in his open casket. Following the transfer of Francis’ remains to St. Peter’s Basilica yesterday, waves of mourners patiently lined up, winding around the square to the building’s Holy Door. According to Vatican media, since Pope Francis was laid out in an open casket yesterday in preparation for his funeral on Saturday, about 50,000 people have visited the basilica “to pay homage to him.”

Among those who paid their respects to Francis yesterday was Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose images show her reverently approaching his casket just hours after praising him in a speech to Parliament. In addition to applauding Francis’s courage and determination to “go against the current,” Meloni shared with lawmakers some personal advice he provided her: “Never lose your sense of humor.” She also praised Francis’ ability to communicate openly with everyone, despite his high status. “With him you were at ease, you could open up, without filters, without fear of being judged,” according to her. “He could see your soul, lay it bare.”

St. Peter’s was scheduled to close at midnight on Wednesday and Thursday, but it remained open all night so that more people may pay their respects. By late last evening, the wait appeared to have extended to three or four hours. According to a crowd control official, the wait time was almost five hours. However, after snapping photographs adjacent to the late pontiff’s open casket, some of the spectators became enraged. One Instagram photo showed a woman smiling into the camera while the Pope, about 10 feet behind her, grasped his rosary.

According to official images taken on the first day of the lying-in-state, swarms of people surrounded the plain casket while waving their phones above their heads. The Pope’s body was surrounded by a sea of screens, some of which featured extended selfie sticks in an attempt to capture the greatest shot. A source close to the Vatican stated: “It would be good if people could try and remember where they are and have a little respect but there’s little else that can be done.”

The Prince of Wales, a potential Church of England leader, has declared that he will attend on behalf of the King, and big crowds are expected during the funeral on Saturday in St. Peter’s Square. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will attend alongside other foreign leaders and dignitaries, including US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Irish Premier Michael Martin, and Irish President Michael D. Higgins. In contrast to papal burials in St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis will be buried at Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major, as the late pope requested.